Eva Freund Papers : Digital Collection, 1961-1974

Title

Eva Freund Papers : Digital Collection, 1961-1974

Description

Eva Freund arrived in Washington, DC in 1961, briefly hung out at the lesbian club Rendezvous (1 block over from the Gayety), and became an early member of the Mattachine Society of Washington. With Richard Schaeffer, she edited and distributed Mattachine's newsletter The Insiderin the late 1960s.

Eva was involved with the fledgling Gay Activists Alliance in the early 70s. She discovered the National Organization of Women (NOW) at a feminist demonstration while living in Reading, PA in 1970. On her return to Washington, DC she joined NOW-DC and quickly became involved in its activities. With others, she founded the DC-NOW Sexuality Task Force. Shortly thereafter, she helped found Capitol Hill NOW and was its first president. In 1973, she became involved in the campaign to pass DC's first human rights act, Title 34, and testified before the DC Council in support of the act as a board member of the local NOW chapter. Recalls the period as one of "strong coalition between NOW and the gay community."

In addition to copies of The Insider, her papers include an insightful account of life as a lesbian in the Mattachine Society of Washington, an account of lesbians in NOW. The papers also include her testimony (May 10, 1973) in support of Title 34 and subsequent testimony (June 7, 1973) supporting the addition of credit and finance protection to Title 34. The collection also includes the text of the Title 34 human rights act and an explanatory NOW pamphlet from 1973.

The papers of David Aiken, gay activist, member of the Gay Liberation Front, and Washington, DC correspondent for The Advocate, include Eva Freund's 1974 testimony in support of adding sexual orientation to the Fairfax County human rights protections. At the time, Eva was employed by the county as a Manpower Planner.

Eva Freund's remembrances of life in, and out of, Washington, D.C. have been preserved on one of the audiotapes in the Rainbow History Project's collection of oral histories.

For more information on the Rainbow History Project and its work to preserve, describe, and make available the history of sexual minorities in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area, please visit the Rainbow History Project website.